Study reveals which cities are on the forefront of smart urban growth

Smart City Index 2017: Study reveals which cities are on the forefront of smart urban growth

• Copenhagen, Denmark is the smartest city, with a thriving business ecosystem, high proliferation of smart parking and forward-thinking urban development.
• London, United Kingdom ranks as number 17 in the index.

Stockholm, Sweden 08/11/2017 – Award-winning smart parking app, EasyPark, have released the 2017 Smart City Index, revealing Copenhagen, Denmark as the smartest city, followed by Singapore, and Swedish city Stockholm. Creating technology which is designed to make people’s lives easier, EasyPark’s ambition is to help build more livable cities for the future. They undertook this study not only to highlight those metropolises which are on the forefront of smart urban growth, but also to learn from those cities which are showing impressive acceleration towards making life smoother for their citizens through digitisation.

To start the study, EasyPark first created a list of 500 carefully selected cities*. They were then analysed for 19 factors aiming to define what makes a city ‘smart’, beginning with digitalization—meaning 4G, high-speed internet and high smartphone penetration. Next, they looked into transport and mobility, which should be knowledge-based with smart parking, traffic sensors and car sharing apps. A smart city should also be sustainable, with a focus on clean energy and environmental protection. Lastly, there should be excellent online access to governmental services and a high level of citizen participation. All of these factors, and more, were then analysed to determine the final index of 100 cities. To round off the study and add a human element, the research team then asked 20,000 technology and urban planning journalists to rate how smart their cities are.

“Big Data has changed the face of the world as we know it, because it allows us to create better solutions to real world problems. Without better solutions, global urbanization would lead to problems such as traffic congestion, housing shortages and pollution—by using Big Data, we can help tackle these important global issues. In our case, we target mobility and help reduce the footprint of driving traffic while creating a much more welcoming experience for drivers.” commented Mauritz Börjeson, CBDO of EasyPark Group. “Every city in this index deserves to be applauded for their efforts, and while the results clearly indicate those cities which are leaps and bounds ahead, it also brings to attention the admirable efforts of many cities looking forward towards a smart future.”

Below you can find a sample of the results for London, United Kingdom, showcasing a selection of factors from the full study. Scores are from 1 – 10 for each factor, with 10 indicating the highest possible score. Ranks are from 1 -100, with rank #1 indicating the smartest city. To find out how each factor was researched and scored, please see the bottom of the press release for the methodology.

N.B. This table shows a sample of results. To see the full data for all 19 factors, please see the results page here: https://easyparkgroup.com/smart-cities-index/

Below you can find a sample of the results for the top 20 smartest cities, showing six example factors to give an overview of the data:

N.B. This table shows a sample of results. To see the full data for all 19 factors, please see the results page here: https://easyparkgroup.com/smart-cities-index/

Further findings:

• Montreal, Canada ranks first for smart parking, followed by Copenhagen, Denmark and Vancouver, Canada.
• Vancouver, Canada ranks first for car sharing services, followed by Washington D.C., USA and Berlin, Germany.
• Helsingborg, Sweden ranks first for traffic, followed by Västerås, Sweden and Bayreuth, Germany.
• Singapore ranks first for public transport, followed by Taipei, Taiwan and Zurich, Switzerland.
• Reykjavik, Iceland ranks first for clean energy, followed by Norwegian cities Oslo, Trondheim, Stavanger and Bergen who come jointly second.
• Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland rank joint first for smart building and waste disposal.
• Panama City, Panama ranks first overall for environmental protection, followed by Swedish cities Helsingborg and Västerås.
• Singapore ranks first for citizen participation, followed by Australian cities Adelaide and Melbourne.
• Stockholm, Sweden ranks first for digitalization of government, followed by Helsingborg, Sweden and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
• Helsinki, Finland, Trondheim, Norway and Stuttgart, Germany rank joint first for urban planning.
• Boston, USA ranks first for education, followed by American cities Los Angeles and Chicago.
• Boston, USA ranks first for business ecosystem, followed by fellow American cities San Francisco and Washington D.C.
• Melbourne, Australia ranks first for 4G, followed by fellow Australian cities Sydney and Perth.
• San Francisco, USA ranks first for internet speed, followed by Bucharest, Romania and New York, USA.
• New York, USA ranks first for Wifi hotspots, followed by London, UK and Seoul, South Korea.
• Luxembourg, Luxembourg ranks first for smartphone penetration, followed by South Korean cities Seoul and Daejeon.
• Swiss cities Zurich and Geneva rank first and second for living standards, followed by Stavanger, Norway.
• Boston, USA is considered to be the smartest city according to experts and journalists, followed by Singapore, Singapore and  Espoo, Finland.

*Please see methodology at the bottom of this press release for a full description of how these cities were selected.

Source Credit: https://easyparkgroup.com/smart-cities-index/

About EasyPark: Since 2001, EasyPark’s award-winning smart services have been helping drivers to find and pay for parking in 500 cities in 10 countries. But what they do doesn’t stop there. On a larger scale, their technology helps businesses, operators and cities with parking administration, planning and management. What they actually do is make urban life easier – one parking spot at a time.